


i'll never ask for anyone (but you)

by allskynostars



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Apologies for the angst in the first part, F/M, bughead is endgame i swear
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-28
Updated: 2017-11-30
Packaged: 2019-02-08 00:07:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,484
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12852444
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/allskynostars/pseuds/allskynostars
Summary: (short fic au request: exes meeting again after not speaking for years au)What can I do?Say it's true, or everything that matters breaks in twoSay it's trueI'll never ask for anyone but you-





	1. i

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone, so a few of you have probably read this first part. It was a short fic au request i received. (I have more in my ask box that I swear I will still do, months later lol)
> 
> Anyway, there was quite a high demand for a part 2, so I promise that is coming and will be posted in a day or two :)
> 
> (title/summary taken from another heart calls by AAR)  
> \---

The ceremony had been beautiful, but of course, Veronica Lodge was the bride after all. And even though Jugheads tie felt like it had been strangling him the whole damn ceremony, he had kept it on and behaved like the perfect Best Man. He didn’t even bring up in his speech that Archie got so drunk on his Stag night, that all he did was sit and cry about how much he missed Ronnie. But, he did tell them about how many girlfriends he had in High school, a new love of his life every week, it seemed. Until Veronica had shown up from New York and ruined any chance another girl may have had. 

The newly weds had smiled at him in gratitude as he spoke about their youth, about the four musketeers. As Jughead looked out to the crowd of people for the fourth, he found her down the back, a small smile on her face. The one that moved clear across the country, leaving them all behind. Or so it had felt to him at the time. He knew better now, he understood. But if he let himself think on it too long, he could feel the pain flare up again. He cleared his throat. 

“To Mr and Mrs Andrews, proving to us all that true love really does exist,” he raised his glass in a toast before downing the contents, hoping to swallow back the heavy feeling in his chest. What a load of bullshit. 

He sat back to let the groom speak. Jughead hadn’t seen Betty during the ceremony, not that he had been looking. At least that’s what he told himself. He waited patiently as Archie spoke, clapping and laughing in all the right places. Joining in the cheers as he finished. He even managed to sit still as they danced their first dance. He noticed Betty slip out of the ballroom half way through, so instead of following tradition and asking the maid of honor to dance, he managed to sneak outside. 

Betty was sat on the stairs, alone. In fact there was no one out here except the cold. He walked quietly down the stairs behind her, stopping as he got to the one where she was sat. 

“And they say first loves don’t last, right?” He joked, trying to break the tension. He realised the stupidity of the words a moment too late. But still, Betty looked up at him and smiled. That smile, the one he pulled from his memories when he was having a bad day. Or when he was sad. When he missed her. Which, was always. 

He hadn’t seen the smile, or the girl attached to it, in years. 5, to be exact. But who was counting? He was. 

“Hey, Juggie,” the old nickname was a knife in his heart, but he smiled back and sat next to her anyway. “Your speech was great, you were the ideal Best Man, Veronica will be proud,” she joked, nudging his shoulder with her own. 

“Thanks, Betty. I’m glad you came.” He stared out into the night, the only noise he could hear was her breathing. He could feel all the unsaid words between them, just hanging heavy in the air. 

“I wouldn’t have missed it,” she replied, her voice low. Jughead figured it must be an odd feeling, watching the best friends of your youth all together and being the one left out. Whenever Jugehad had thought of this day, he just presumed Betty would have been at the main table with the rest of them. As the maid of honor. As his. 

But things had changed and even though Betty was still friends with Archie and Veronica, it was a shadow of what it used to be. 

“Listen, Betty -” 

“This is fucking weird, right?”

They both spoke at once, laughing as they looked at each other. Jughead gestured for her to carry on with his hand. She sighed, wringing her hands in her lap. 

“I can’t shake this feeling, I haven’t been able to since I got on the damn plane. I don’t know what it is. Nostalgia? Jealousy?” She wasn’t looking at Jughead, but he was watching her face. 

“Jealousy?” He asked in surprise, “why would it be jealousy?” Betty shot him a look that told him enough, but she spoke anyway. 

“Because this, this could have been me,” her voice dropped so low he almost missed it, “could have been us.” 

“Betty, -”

“It should have been.” She was whispering into the night now, but he could still hear every word as if she was yelling at the top of her lungs. It was as though she was speaking his own thoughts, stealing his words from him. But he found himself feeling angry, it crept up slowly, and then hit him all at once. She was the one that left. 

“You’re the one that left,” he told her as much. She squeezed her eyes tight, willing herself not to cry. She didn’t open them again before she spoke. 

“I know, Juggie. Believe me, I fucking know,” she sounded broken, it crippled Jughead. 

“You think I haven’t been having these thoughts too? Fuck, Betty,” he sighed in frustration, roughly running his hands through his hair. “You can’t, you can’t do this. Not here, not now. It’s been 5 years.” 

“Jug, -”

“Please don’t do this to me,” his voice broke. She looked at him then, a thousand apologies in her green eyes. 

“I have spent those last 5 years missing you, Jughead. And hating myself.” She reached for his hands, grasping them desperately between her own. She squeezed so hard it hurt, but Jughead welcomed the pain. 

“Then why didn’t you come back?” He knew he should be shutting her down, telling her to stop being foolish. Whatever they had, it was in the past. But he hung to her every word, aching for them. This was going to fuck him up all over again, he knew it. It was too much. But he had dreamed of hearing these words, of just seeing her again, so he wouldn’t stop her. He couldn’t pull away. 

“Because I figured the damage was done. That was my punishment. Losing you.” She was crying now, there were mascara tracks down her cheeks. 

“Betty,”

“I haven’t been able to even look at anyone else, Jug. And being here, seeing Archie and Veronica get that happy ending that belonged to us, too,” she paused to let out a heavy breath, “Seeing you. It made me realise how tired I am of fighting it. You might think this is rushed, but it’s not. I promise. I’ve been thinking this for a long time, ever since I got the damn invitation and knew you would be here. I don’t want to waste anymore time,” 

“Fighting what?” He was too far gone. He couldn’t deny it anymore, He was weak, look at how quickly he gave in to her, he scolded himself. 

“I’m sorry, and I know I should have come back a long time ago. But I am here now, and I still love you, Juggie.” The words hung in the air between them as Jughead held his breath. His heart was beating so loud in his chest he would have sworn she could hear it. He opened his mouth to speak, but before he could, a voice called out from the top of the stairs. 

“Jughead?” 

His eyes snapped in the direction the voice had come from, and in his realisation of who it was, he yanked his hands from Betty’s. 

“What are you doing out here, babe?” She called out. “Who’s your friend?”

His gaze flicked back to Betty, her eyes were brimming with tears and Jughead felt his own heart break in his chest. This time, irreparable. Betty began to nod slowly, biting down on her bottom lip to stop the tears from falling. 

“I’m too late, aren’t i,” she whispered low enough for only Jughead to hear. It wasn’t a question, either, but a statement. So she shook her head lightly, quickly wiped at her eyes, and stood to introduce herself to Jugheads girlfriend. 

He sat on the stairs a moment longer, trying to gather his thoughts and the broken pieces of his heart from the floor.


	2. ii

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the wait guys, hope it was at least a little bit worth it! haha. i know some people wanted a reason as to why she left, but i kind of like leaving it a little bit inconspicuous, like it doesn't matter why, you can make up your own mind about that. as long as they are together in the end. (also it took me a stupid amount of time to write this and i just wanted to post it and get it out of my face, lol)
> 
> warning: fluff ensues. 
> 
> j
> 
>  
> 
> \---

"Jug, bro, I know you're having like some sort of existential crisis right now but we kind of need to get to the airport sooner rather than later." 

Jughead was parked in Archie and Veronica's driveway, the car was idling but he just sat in the drivers seat, eyes trained on the steering wheel where his hands gripped so hard his knuckles were white. On top of Veronica's double triple checking of her 2 suitcases, and now Jugs inability to do anything, Archie was fair in his stress of missing their flights. It was their Honeymoon after all. 

"Jughead, if I miss the time I have scheduled to be sat on the beach today because of you, I swear I will -"

"She told me she still loved me," Jughead cut Veronica off abruptly. She let out a hushed _oh, shit_ at the same time that Archie blew a low whistle. Jughead hadn't even named her, but they both knew. 

"That's heavy, Jug." So heavy, in fact, that Jughead hadn't slept a wink between when the reception wrapped up and this current moment. He really shouldn't be driving, he thought to himself. His mind was everywhere except where it needed to be. Archie clapped his hand on Jugheads shoulder in his most common display of sympathy. "Are you okay, man?" 

He didn't really have an answer, not in words at least. So Jughead just shook his head slowly, letting the air escape from his mouth in a huff. 

"For god sake," Veronica spoke up from the back seat. "At the risk of sounding like I'm all heart, is this not exactly what you've been waiting for, since the day Betty left?" Archie turned his head and shot her an annoyed look. Veronica widened her eyes in a way that said _what, I'm just saying what we're all thinking here?_ without saying the words as such. Then she rolled them to the back of her head, grabbed the back of the driver seat and pulled herself forward to stick her head inbetween the seats. "Jughead, I've been watching you mope about that girl for the last 5 years, and quite frankly the routine is getting old. Go to her." 

"But," Jughead turned to look out the window, not really wanting to face his friends and see the sad way they would be looking at him. "I can't. I'm with -" 

"Oh Dios mío," Veronica fell back in her seat, her annoyance with the boy in front of her obvious in her Spanish dialogue. Jughead winced, she only spoke it to him when she was at her wits end. "Toni? No, Jug. Believe me sweetie, you two are all kinds of wrong for each other." Jugheads head snapped in her direction with a raised brow. 

"What?" He asked, incredulously. "Please, tell me how you really feel." It wasn't that he took Veronica's advice as gospel or anything, but Toni was the first girl he had let in since Betty. Nobody had really voiced their opinion on the relationship yet, it was still fairly new. Archie would rather not interfere as it was, but it felt very uncharacteristic of Veronica not too. "Why didn't you say something _before_ I brought her as my date to your wedding?" 

"Because, my dearest Forsythe the third," she turned to look at him with sadness in her eyes, "I thought that maybe, finally, you were moving past our dear mutual deserter. It may be hard to believe, but I do want you to be happy, Jug." She reached her hand out and placed it on his shoulder, giving it a firm squeeze. He placed his hand over hers. 

"I know, Ronnie. But, you know, a little heads up would have been great. Before the ex showed up and made me question my whole life, preferably." There was a joking lilt to his voice, but his words were serious. Before Betty had even spoken to him, his world had shifted on its axis just as soon as he layed eyes on her. It was easy enough when someone was out of sight, even if not out of mind. But being face to face with the person who broke his heart, also bought Jughead face to face with the fact that he was still so stupidly in love with her. 

"I saw the way you were looking at her, Jug. Im pretty sure everyone did," Veronica sympathised.  
Jughead looked at Archie in confirmation, to which his best friend just shrugged with a twisted mouth. Had he been that obvious? 

"Shit," Jughead cursed harshly. He hit the back ofhis head against the headrest a few times. He knew he would have to break things off with Toni before going to Betty, that was the right thing to do. Except he'd never actually been the dumper before. "Shit shit shit." 

"I don't mean to rush you through this groundbreaking realisation, Jughead. But we are going to be late if you don't move your ass and drive." Jughead nodded at Veronica as she sat back in her seat and clasped her seatbelt closed. "Finally, jesus." She whispered under her breath once the car started. 

"So, what's it gonna be Jug?" Archie asked as they backed from the driveway. Jughead looked between Archie, the road, and Veronica's face in his rear view mirror a few times before answering. Suddenly a horrifying though crossed his mind.

"God, she's not staying with Alice is she?" 

 

\---

 

And then 3 hours later, with one set of newlyweds on a flight they made off to Barbados, a newly single Jughead stood at the door of the motel at which Betty was staying. Thank god the town was small enough that of course Jughead knew Dilton at the front desk, and then Dilton had easily given up her room number. 

"I'm a sucker for love, man." 

Jughead had just rolled his eyes and muttered his thanks as he left the office. Although now as he stood in front of the door, part of him wished he had just stayed in the safety of the office and spoken with him a little longer, just to put off the inevitable. But he had to face up to whatever this was about to be. She had to know. 

His fist was halfway to the door when suddenly it was open, and there Betty stood on the other side with her mouth agape. 

It was the same protocol as the wedding yesterday, he knew he was about to see her. So why was his heart beating so damn hard in this chest?

"Betty," was the only word that fell from his lips. Where did one start after 5 years, anyway? 

"Jughead, come in," Betty gestured with an outstretched arm, inviting him into the room she was staying in. He wanted to ask why she wasn't staying with her parents, or with Polly. But that wasn't really his business anymore, and also that was not why he had come. 

"I, I.." Jughead stammered over the right words to say, but instead of trying to fumble a sentence together he decided to get straight to the point. "Did you mean it?" Betty sighed heavily and tilted her head against the open door.

"What part, Jug?" Her voice was so soft, it bought with it the memory of so many mornings spent wrapped in each other, the countless times he got to touch her. Yet now, it had never been enough. 

"Any of it?" His own voice wavered, and he wanted to kick himself for not rehearsing his lines before he just showed up here. Idiot. Betty eyed him cautiously at first, but ultimately gave in to the internal battle she was fighting against. 

"I meant all of it, of course I did," Betty closed her eyes tight and took in a deep breath before catching his eyes with her own. "Every single word," comes out as a whisper. 

"I, oh," Jughead begged for the words, any damn words, to miraculously appear in his throat but nothing would come. 

"I'm sorry my timing is so shit. I didn't mean to drop that on you, I didn't know about.." Her voice trailed off as he realised she was talking about Toni. 

"That's done," he said it so abruptly Betty reared her head back in shock. "I um, I ended that."

"Wh-, wow. You work quick, Jones," she said it without jest but there was a distinct smirk pulling at the corner of her lips. "Are you okay?" 

_"I will be as soon as I can kiss you,"_ is what he thought. Instead he just said, "I will be." Betty nodded her head. 

"Break ups sucks," she murmured, suddenly interested in something at her feet. 

"It's a different feeling, being on the other side of one." He felt bad as soon as he the words left his lips, the feeling increased tenfold by the look on Betty's face. He ran his hand down his face and sighed. "I'm sorry, I just.. I don't really know what to say." 

"It's okay, Jug, really." She shrugged, giving him a small smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. She gestured to the room behind her again. "Come in, please. I can explain everything a hell of a lot better than I did last night, I promise." He wanted to, there was no doubt about that. He wanted to sit and listen, but he knew as soon as he was in that confined space with her he would be done for.

"Betty. If I step foot over this door, that's it. There won't be any going back," He shook his head and watched her brows knit in confusion.

"Wh-, what do you mean?" She asked.

"I mean, I can't lose you again." He held her gaze and searched her eyes, his heart fell for a moment when he saw the obvious flash of guilt across them. "I have spent the last 5 years trying to let you go, with one very recent halfhearted attempt to move on. And then you show up, and everything is out the window because if you still love me, then how could anything else live up to that? How could I listen to you tell me the words I have been denying myself and walk away?" He knew he was rambling, but once he started there wasn't really a point he could stop. Betty just stood on the other side of the door and stared at him, her mouth slightly open in shock. "No, I can't and I won't. So that's what I mean, Betty. I have loved you every day since I was 16. Through all those days we were together, and still through the ones we weren't." 

Betty didn't move, and he could see they way her eyes were glassy with tears. His heart ached, he didn't want to see her cry. "Please don't cry, B-," His sentence cut short as Betty grabbed a fistful of his shirt and pulled him through the door. Jughead didn't really have time to register what was happening before Betty crushed her lips against his own, full of need. There was nothing gentle about it, it was 5 years of pent up need spilling into his mouth with her tongue. Jughead snaked his arms around her waist and pulled her tight, causing her back to bow slightly. Betty's arms found their way around his neck and wound around so tight, as if she wanted their bodies to be flush together. 

"I guess that's it, then," Betty whispered against his lips. Jughead pulled back to raise a brow in question, as Betty gestured to their feet. He had passed the threshold. The only thing Jughead wanted to do with her smile more than return it was to kiss it off. But Betty pulled back momentarily and gazed into his eyes. "I swear, Jug, if I ever leave again you are coming with me, okay?" Jughead nodded and made to move his lips against hers again, but she spoke again into his open mouth. "I don't deserve you."

"And yet, here I am. I understand why you did what you did, Betty. It was all too much for you, it's natural for the flight response to kick in. Just, next time," Jughead brushed the hair back from Betty's forehead delicately, "Promise me you'll let me help. I'm here, for you. That's all I'm here for."

"I love you," Betty repeated over and over as Jugheads mouth found it's way to her neck, feather light across her collarbone. 

 

_"I love you, I love you."_


End file.
